Spain based Zaragoza University, through intensive research, has concluded that almost half the people who believe that they have been abducted by aliens, qualify for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis. Depicting a diagnosis rate of 47%, the study reports that out of 19 people who claim to be taken by aliens, nine meet the PTSD criteria. One can compare that to the people who were kidnapped by other humans, where 46% of them were potential PTSD sufferers. 

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Findings and researches suggest that a traumatizing experience can continue to exist and influence our minds, even if they have not taken place in real time. 

“The  emotional reaction to memories of an implausible experience can be similar to an individual’s response to a genuinely traumatic event,” researchers wrote in their report, which was published this month in the journal Explore. “Abductees can have an emotional reaction analogous to PTSD because, regardless of whether their recollections are true or false, their fear is real.”

The alleged victims who were involved in the research give varying descriptions about their “encounters.” These include experience of being mesmerized by a “strange” light as well as sensations of being in company of otherworldly lifeforms. Some people report to have met a “bedroom visitor” while some talk about television interferences. 

More than half the participants of the study claim to have experienced memory loss during the course of their supernatural experience and abduction. The timing usually ranged from a few hours at night, to about 36 hours. 

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Researchers have also found that the victims have actually become more skeptical due to their claimed abduction. The individuals scored  lower in “suggestibility” compared to the control group, indicating the same. 

The volunteers of the study were asked to fill up an assessment questionnaire pertaining to PTSD, which included severity of symptoms like nightmares, mood swings, anxiety, mood swings, flashbacks and intrusive experiences. 

The study has also tried to explain the alleged abduction experience by giving alternative explanations such as sleep paralysis and hallucinatory dreaming.